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Mike Conley Could Be In Line For A Huge Payday

By D. Goodman

May 15, 2015; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) handles the ball in the first quarter against Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) in game six of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
May 15, 2015; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) handles the ball in the first quarter against Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) in game six of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Memphis Grizzlies want to win and they want to win now. That is the obvious conclusion any fan can come to after watching the team conduct itself this offseason.

Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace went into what many would call one of the most important offseasons in the franchise’s history with one goal: re-sign Marc Gasol. After that, he needed to replace the soon-to-be-departing Kosta Koufos, have a successful 2015 NBA Draft and address the lack of dependable outside shooting on the roster.

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Well, other than the fact that the Grizzlies still haven’t addressed their needs from beyond the arc, Wallace handled the rest with his usual low-key style.

The Grizzlies drafted a pair of solid young players that should help the team down the road in Jarell Martin and Andrew Harrison. To replace the Sacramento-bound Koufos they signed forward/center Brandan Wright to a three-year, $18 million deal that is arguably an improvement for the roster.

And of course, Gasol decided to remain in Memphis and sign a five-year max contract worth more than $110 million.

Now, Wallace gets to do it all over again at the close of the 2015-16 season.

Point guard Mike Conley is going into the final year of his current $40 million contract and will be an unrestricted free agent next offseason. After a season that saw him average 15.8 points, 5.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 70 regular season games as well as 14.4 points, 5.0 assists and 1.1 rebounds in eight playoff games, it goes without saying that Conley is due a raise.

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The question then becomes how much and with which team.

Conley’s importance to the Grizzlies cannot be stressed enough, especially now that Gasol is going to be on the roster for the next five years. If Gasol had signed elsewhere, keeping Conley wouldn’t be such a huge issue since without the 7-foot-1 Spaniard no one would have been shocked to see Memphis decide to begin a rebuild.

But with Gasol remaining in Memphis, keeping Conley there is a must.

In order for the Grizzlies to stay competitive in the brutal Western Conference, they need the Conley/Gasol tandem to remain in place for a good long while.

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    • With Tony Allen recently stating he wants to remain in Memphis for the duration of his career and Zach Randolph having two years remaining on his deal, the team’s core could remain intact and the Grizzlies could make a serious run at a championship sooner rather then later.

    If they can hold on to Conley.

    There is no question that Conley wants and deserves a raise, as his refusal to talk about a contract extension with the Grizzlies will attest. Considering that the salary cap looks to skyrocket over the next two years, who can really blame him?

    He has also put himself in a great bargaining position with the Grizzlies’ front office as there are few guards who could come in and play the position on this team and not have it be a downgrade in some way. Much like how Gasol makes the Grizzlies’ suffocating defense run, the same can be said of Conley and the offense.

    Mike Conley is going to see his paycheck get a serious upgrade next season and it will likely be the Grizzlies that is signing it. Just like Gasol and his contract, they really have no choice but to make him happy, because if they don’t, there are plenty of teams in the NBA who will.

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